Cal women take care of Arizona State in battle of ranked teams

BERKELEY -- If Brittany Boyd's injured right ankle was still tender in the second half of Cal's 74-63 victory over No. 15 Arizona State on Sunday at Haas Pavilion, she didn't play like it.

The junior point guard hit her stride coming out of halftime, and, not surprisingly, her teammates followed suit.

Boyd scored 19 of her 21 points after the break, when the No. 22 Bears used an 11-0 run to take control and move into sole possession of second place in the Pac-12. Her strong all-around game also included eight rebounds, six assists and three steals.

"She was on fire," said senior Afure Jemerigbe, who finished with a career-high 23 points. "Definitely Boyd kicking it into gear was the key."

Boyd had rolled the ankle while colliding with an opponent in Friday's win over Arizona, and her status for the Bears' pivotal game against the Sun Devils was uncertain.

But Boyd had barely removed the ice from her injured ankle that night when she informed coach Lindsay Gottlieb that she didn't intend to miss any time.

"She's the toughest competitor that I've ever coached," Gottlieb said. "If there's a chance she can go, she's going to go. ... It was critical for us today that she's such a tough kid."

Boyd winced in pain a few times in the first half when she shot just 1 of 7 from the field.

After the game, she said her ankle felt "fine," it just took her awhile to get into a rhythm.

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"I just had to relax," Boyd said. "I just needed to see my layups fall, see the ball in the basket. That really helped me."

Gennifer Brandon and Reshanda Gray both posted double-doubles for the Bears, who avenged a 68-59 loss to the Sun Devils on Jan. 17. Brandon had 15 points and 14 rebounds, while Gray added 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Cal (18-7, 10-4 Pac-12) led by as many as 15 points with 6:48 to play before Arizona State (20-6, 9-5) went on a run, getting within 63-58 with 2:40 left.

But the Bears made enough free throws and grabbed enough rebounds in the closing minutes to secure their fourth straight victory.

"We've showed how much we've improved from when we played (Arizona State) down there," Gottlieb said. "Our collective toughness was really good."